Miller Excels In Speech For Culbertson High School

Senior Profile

When it comes to speech and drama, few students do it better than Culbertson High School senior Zachary Miller.

Last year, Miller earned second place at the state meet for memorized public address. His entry consisted of Mikhail Gorbachev’s acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize.

As a freshman and sophomore, Miller’s presentations regarded Russian history.

“The previous two were more military based,” he noted. Miller added that he finds Russian history very interesting.

His presentation this year is Admiral William McRaven’s commencement address at the University of Texas in 2014.

Miller said he really enjoyed the speech when he first heard it back in 2019. “I kind of forgot about it until this year,” he explained.

After finishing his studies in Culbertson, Miller will ship out in July to start his commitment with the U.S. Navy.

Miller noted that he began reading about the Navy’s history during the COVID shutdown and he decided to become part of that great tradition.

He will be part of the Navy’s nuclear engineering program. In order to qualify for that program, Miller needed to take the Navy’s advanced programs test.

“It was easily the hardest test I’ve taken in my life,” Miller said.

During his free time, his hobbies include reading and working on scale models.

His favorite teacher is David Solem.

“He has a different method of teaching. He doesn’t just read from the textbook,” Miller explained.

His favorite class is world history. Miller said he enjoys his education in Culbertson and loves the area’s wide open spaces. “Culbertson is pretty small, so everybody knows everybody,” Miller added.